The chairman of the U.S. Bishops Committee on Migration has called upon the Obama administration to halt any plans to send back unaccompanied illegal immigrant minors who have been flooding across the U.S. border.

This is a very vulnerable population which has been targeted by organized crime networks in Central America, said Bishop Eusebio Elizondo in a press release Wednesday. To return them to these criminal elements without a proper adjudication of their cases is unconscionable.

The bishops have asked the Obama administration to reconsider their proposed request to Congress for fast track authority to expedite the removal of unaccompanied children coming to the United States from Central America. Currently, children from non-contiguous countries are permitted to remain in the United States until an immigration judge considers their request for asylum or immigration relief.

As a nation which has traditionally offered safe haven to those who are persecuted, this proposed policy undercuts our values as a nation, added Elizondo, who is also auxiliary bishop of Seattle...

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